All Boxed Up

When I met The Lawyer I quickly found out that he travels quite a bit for work, and has his favorite spots to frequent in particular cities.  Restaurants, clothing stores, wood stores.  Excuse me, did you say “wood store?” Why yes, yes I did.  Sounded pretty random to me.  I mean, the Lowe’s has plenty of wood, and we even have a couple of independent lumber shops around.  But, no, apparently none of them hold a candle to this mecca of all things wood, wood tools, wood stains, wood everything.  It’s called Wood Craft, and in short order I’d heard about it multiple times.  In fact, there for awhile, every time he’d go out of town, he’d come back with more wood, tools, or oils, or at least tales of his trip to Wood Craft.  He sang their praises so much that I wanted to go see for myself.

In December of 2021 we made our semi-annual pilgrimage to Jacksonville, Savannah, and across the border to South Carolina and back.  While in the Big City, if I recall, he had me navigating, and he just wouldn’t do what I said.  I was getting highly frustrated with him because he kept making wrong turns and the GPS kept having to recalculate.  Really ticking me off!  Little did I realize, he was on a mission and absolutely did NOT care what the GPS said – that was just a distraction.  We pulled into a shopping center parking lot to “turn around,”  but he did not, in fact, turn around.  He pulled into a parking space – right in front of Wood Craft!  I was confused, confounded, and discombobulated, but when I came-to and realized exactly where we were, I was ecstatic!

The Lawyer surprised me and drove me to mecca.  Wood Craft.  The Mother Ship.  The End All, Be All.  We have arrived.

It was amazing.

It was everything he said, and more.  Who’da thunk it???

We grabbed a few miscellaneous items, looked at some drill bits, and scoured the stacks and stacks of lumber.  Exotic, pricey, I’ve-never-heard-of-that woods, and then I fell in love. 

Purple wood.

It’s gorgeous and strong and comes in small pieces.  I sweet-talked The Lawyer into buying me a few pieces, with the idea that he’d just make me a little keepsake box out of it.  Something I could have that he crafted for me, out of beautiful pieces of wood, that I could keep forever.  Nothing fancy, or over the top, just made with love.

We made our way home with our treasures from the weekend (and a trunk full of fireworks from South Carolina.  Again, a whole ‘nother story), after which the wood sat on the kitchen counter –

for a year and a half.

Now, I’m not the least bit sideways about that little fact. There were plenty of other projects handled in that lengthy segue. But you should also rest assured that I gave him plenty of grief about it anyway. I mean, what fun would it be if I didn’t? But I know The Lawyer plenty well enough to know that when the mood hits, it hits hard and fast, and then there’s no stopping him. Ya just stand back and marvel. And it did finally happen. And I did stand back and marvel.

A few months ago, it began. The plan was made, the pieces were cut, the bad words were used. See, purple wood is apparently one of the hardest woods on the planet and gave The Lawyer a little run for his money. Oh, he got it done, but I heard plenty about it. The little box was taking shape.

Except that this is The Lawyer and this is no simple little box. It is becoming a well-designed jewelry box, complete with a removable tray and felt lining. I can’t even begin to imagine what this will be like when it is complete.

The shape of the box was assembled and the pretty was being applied. Coat after coat of varnish to make it smooth as silk. Applied, buffed, and applied again, it looked like glass.

And it was no longer purple.

The natural shade of the varnish, in so many coats, was neutralizing the color of the purple. The box was beautiful…..and brown.

We looked at each other, perplexed and slightly dismayed. Kind of un-does the point of purple wood when it looks brown. So he sat the box down for awhile and re-evaluated. The varnish had to come off. Let the sanding begin.

He sanded. And sanded some more. Until all that had been applied was removed and the wood was a lovely dry, dull purple. Not the easiest thing to sand, seeing as it was no longer pieces of wood, but rather a box with corners. He may have said a few more words.

He came in one evening and asked if I knew where the Ollie’s Wood Oil was, and duh, of course I did, so I handed it over, no questions asked. Soon he began to say nice words about this project, and began showing off his handiwork. The dull, dry look of the sanded wood was giving way to lush, rich, supple, well nourished deep purple. The wood was back to it’s best state. We were both ecstatic.

Then began the interiors. He crafted a tray which will rest on dividers in the bottom of the box, all skillfully covered in felt. Except I called an audible. When he was showing me the tray in it’s first state, I realized he was using the lid of a cigar box, and it had the most beautiful artwork on it, placed so strategically in what is now a tray. And he was going to cover it up with felt. No, Sir, we’re not doing that. Not on my watch. He was a little skeptical, but I insisted, and we were both happy when it was completed. Not to mention that the bottom of the box is a cigar box lid. I’m telling you, this is the most unique jewelry box.

Several months ago (ok, maybe a year ago) The Lawyer also ordered hardware to finish the box. He had not let me see any of it – wanted to get the box finished before he let me pick. It was all beautiful, but we selected brass corners that were most size balanced and had lovely scrollwork. Then in another little bag there were feet for the box. Elephant head and trunk feet. Huh? When he said that I was perplexed. Elephant, head, trunk, feet, all in one sentence was more than I could rationalize. But when I saw them! I fell in love. Exotic, unique, different, all the words you could use. Those feet were perfect. It has all come together.

The Lawyer set out to completely complete the task at hand and wrap up this little 2-year project. And beautifully he did. He applied all the felt, installed the hardware, and polished one more time. It was complete. And I am completely in love. What started as little planks of wood has been so lovingly transformed into the most beautiful treasure box for all the things that have the most special memories. Thank you Joseph, for creating what I couldn’t even imagine. It is so incredibly perfect.